imp on water cycle flows and stores

• Soya plants or grassland for cattle ranching


  • Cannot recreate the continuous canopy layer of the rainforest
  • Reduces interception loss and large-scale transpiration
• Reduced interception loss and transpiration


  • Increases water reaching the ground level
  • Increases potential for saturation-excess overland flows
• Amazon releases up to 20 billion tonnes of water each day
• Clouds that form above the Amazon bring rain to regions beyond the rainforest, carrying more water than the Amazon River
• Deforestation


  Can lead to a drier regional climate
• Temperature is rising more than double the global average in deforested areas
• Since 1980, dry season has already grown by 24 days
• Growing season has shortened in southern Amazon where deforestation has been extensive
• If tipping point is reached, and the Amazon climate is irreversibly changed to a drier one


  The Amazon's economy will be severely affected as it is reliant on income from agriculture